


let it snow

by cinderstorms



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Christmas Fluff, Enemies to Acquaintances to Friends to Lovers, F/M, Post-War, Snapshots
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-24
Updated: 2019-12-24
Packaged: 2021-02-18 03:23:22
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,144
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21920998
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cinderstorms/pseuds/cinderstorms
Summary: merry christmas chloe thanks for enabling me to write my first ever dramione (shocking considering this has been The Ship for me for... ten years?). also. it's cyclical.a few things:1) i fudged a few dates here i think2) i also at one point forgot they were wizards so when you start wondering why they are doing things by hand it is for the Character Developmentalso this festive season if you have cash to spare then consider donating to a charity like Mermaids UK or Trans Lifeline :) the holidays can be exceptionally rough for people in marginalised communities.
Relationships: Hermione Granger/Draco Malfoy
Comments: 2
Kudos: 44





	let it snow

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ochreolche](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ochreolche/gifts).



> merry christmas chloe thanks for enabling me to write my first ever dramione (shocking considering this has been The Ship for me for... ten years?). also. it's cyclical.
> 
> a few things:  
> 1) i fudged a few dates here i think  
> 2) i also at one point forgot they were wizards so when you start wondering why they are doing things by hand it is for the Character Development 
> 
> also this festive season if you have cash to spare then consider donating to a charity like Mermaids UK or Trans Lifeline :) the holidays can be exceptionally rough for people in marginalised communities.

_December 2008_

It was a cold December morning. Christmas was just around the corner. Hermione had gotten up – the snow had fallen heavy during the night and coated everything outside with a layer of white.

“Hot chocolate?”

Hermione turned to see Draco stood in the doorway. He was wearing a ridiculous Christmas jumper, one with pom poms and little LED lights that Harry had gotten him as a gag gift and that he wore far too often just to make Hermione roll her eyes. “Yes please,” Hermione said.

Draco nodded at her and headed into the kitchen. The cottage they were staying in was a quaint little thing – smaller than the previous years and in a different location. They were more isolated this time – there weren’t any other cottages around for miles. It was peaceful.

Draco soon joined her on the sofa, passing Hermione her warm mug of hot chocolate and wrapping an arm around her shoulder. Hermione took it all in – the warm body next to hers, the stunning engagement ring on her finger. It was moments like this that Hermione liked to look back on how exactly they’d gotten to where they were now – _together_. Ten years ago, she would have laughed in the face of anyone who suggested she and Draco would go on a date and would not even acknowledge anyone who would have predicted they would have gotten engaged. Ten years ago it would have been preposterous, but there was a lot that had happened in the past few years that would have surprised teenaged Hermione.

*

_December 2003_

Ginny looked radiant. The pregnancy glow suited her, as did the emerald green dress she wore. It was mid-December and the Potters had invited a select group of people up to the Scottish Highlands for a pre-baby/early Christmas bash. The cottage they had rented was luxurious, it had rooms for most of the guests to stay in and had been decorated (mostly by Hermione since Ginny hadn’t wanted to exert herself too much ahead of the party, but the latter had been creative director of the whole thing) to the nines.

There was quite the turnout of people – five years after the war had ended it was clear that things had changed. Hermione saw Pansy Parkinson dressed in a silver gown with a fancy faux fur shawl talking to Luna, whose dress was mostly made from tinsel. Blaise Zabini and Theodore Nott were talking with Ron, Seamus and Dean and Daphne Greengrass was plaiting red ribbon into her girlfriend Cho Chang’s hair. It was quite the sight really. Hermione wouldn’t have entertained the idea that she had been stood in a room with all these people all those years ago. The Slytherin’s had always kept to themselves and Hermione had expected that isolation to continue, maybe even get worse after the war but she had been wrong. Hermione admired the way they had unashamedly put themselves out into the wizarding world, it seemed they had nothing left to lose.

The one friendship that still caught her by surprise was that of Harry and Draco Malfoy’s though. It made sense – Harry had never fully believed Draco was loyal to Voldemort, going as far as to save Draco’s life that night in the Room of Requirement. Harry was headstrong and there was nothing that anyone could say that would have stopped him testifying at Draco and Narcissa’s trials and then seeking out Malfoy afterwards and inviting him for a strong drink at the pub. It was just the sight of them together that Hermione could never quite get used to – earlier that evening she had exited her room in the cottage after getting ready only to see the pair laughing over beers in the kitchen. Hermione wasn’t quite sure she would ever get used to the sight. Maybe one day.

_Cling cling cling!_

Everyone stopped and turned to see Harry holding up a fork and a champagne flute.

“Hey everyone!” He started. Ginny wolf whistled and Harry grinned. “Just wanted to thank you all for coming. It’s good to get everyone in the same room since it never happens anymore and probably won’t for a while now there’s a baby on the way. Adulthood, right?”

There was a smattering of laughter.

“So yeah, enjoy your evening everyone. Drink, be merry, all that jazz.” Harry finished. “Merry Christmas.”

The evening passed by in a blur. Hermione had gotten a little bit too into the prosecco and agreed to model for Pansy Parkinson’s new business wear line. By the time she bid everyone goodnight and climbed into bed the room was spinning.

Hermione slept for maybe an hour or two before she was awoken by a hand shaking her shoulder.

Hermione opened one eye. Harry was looking down at her. “Harry?” Hermione mumbled.

“Ginny’s waters have broke,” Harry explained. “I’m taking her to St Mungo’s. I’ll let you know whenever we have any updates, but do you mind staying to keep an eye on this place and tidy up? I don’t really know how much time we’ll have to do that now since… well. The baby.”

Hermione sat up. “Oh, I – yes I can do that for you. Keep me updated and tell Ginny good luck!”

“Thank you,” Harry said, and then he was gone.

Hermione lay awake for a good while after that. It was a lot to process – Ginny had been joking that if she spent the entire night dancing that she might induce labour. Moreover – these were her best friends and they were _having a baby_. This had been years in the making. Hermione got emotional just thinking about how happy she was for them.

Sleep came to her eventually, but she was restless and woke up early the next morning. Hermione’s hangover was rough – her stomach was churning. A nice cup of strong black coffee was in order.

Heading downstairs, Hermione walked past the mess in the living room of the cottage and went straight for the kitchen. She moved quickly, eager to see if there had been any news of Ginny and the baby. In her haste, she neglected to notice the blond man stood in the doorway. That was how she walked straight into Draco Malfoy’s bare chest at seven AM.

“Oh sorry, I didn’t notice you there,” Hermione said.

“Clearly,” Draco replied.

Hermione glanced around. From the looks of things, he had tidied the kitchen – the counters were clean and there was a full bin bag sat by the back door. There was an empty plate on the table and a half empty cup of tea next to it. Hermione had completely forgotten she wasn’t the only one who had planned to stay the night.

“Harry and Ginny have gone to the hospital, Ginny is –”

“In labour, yeah I know. Harry let me know before they left.” Draco said.

“Oh.” Hermione responded. “Did he?”

“Yeah,” Draco said. He sat back down at the table and picked up his tea.

Hermione stood for a moment before slowly making her way to the kettle. This was strange. It really shouldn’t have been a shock to her that Harry had also told Draco what was going on before he and Ginny went to the hospital – it was only fair when they had guests staying. Still, Hermione couldn’t help but watch Draco out of the corner of her eye as she made herself coffee. He wasn’t ignored her per say, more just getting on with what he had ben doing before she had come downstairs. It just felt _weird_.

After a few moments Draco stood and took his dirty dishes to the sink. “I’m going to get dressed but when I’m ready I’ll come back down and help clear up the rest of the cabin.”

“Ok.” Hermione watched him leave the room.

Draco kept his word. Barely twenty minutes later he was back. Hermione had put on the radio and was singing along to Christmas songs whilst she disposed of empty beer and wine bottles. Draco joined her, humming along to the Christmas songs too. The question was on the tip of her tongue – _how do you know this song_? But Hermione didn’t know if it would be rude to ask. She knew next to nothing about his life – for all she knew he could have heard it when spending time at Harry’s or if he ever ventured out into muggle London.

Working together meant they had the place tidied in record time. Hermione finished her coffee and sprawled out on the sofa, closing her eyes. Now that was all done, she could maybe sleep a little longer.

“Still no word from Harry then?” Draco asked.

Hermione opened her eyes to see him looking down at her. His face was incredibly hard to read.

“No,” Hermione said. “I hope they’re all doing ok.”

“I’m sure they are,” Draco said. “I guess it’s time for me to leave then. You’ll be ok here on your own?”

Hermione nodded. “Yes, I’ll be fine.”

Draco stayed about ten minutes more, packing up the stuff he had brought before heading to the fireplace. “Well, it was nice to see you again Granger. Have a good Christmas.”

He was gone before Hermione could reply.

*

The first thing Ginny said when Hermione walked into the hospital room was, “I promise I didn’t go into labour to avoid cleaning up.” She was holding the baby – a little boy – and looked exhausted. Hermione went over to pull her into a hug.

“Don’t worry about it. The place is tidy now.” Hermione said.

“Did Draco help?” Harry asked. “I did tell him –”

“Yes, he did,” Hermione said. “But enough about all that, you just had a baby!”

As the day went on, they were joined in the hospital room by the rest of the Weasley clan. It was a little overwhelming and they were definitely breaking the rule about how many visitors were allowed in at once, but the staff didn’t seem to care.

Harry cornered Hermione just before she left.

“Thank you for cleaning up the cottage.” He said. “How was this morning anyway?”

“Malfoy had already started tidying before I had even woken up,” Hermione said. “We got through the rest pretty quickly.”

Harry nodded. “You know, I think you two should talk more. You’d get on well.”

“It isn’t like I don’t talk to him,” Hermione said, ignoring the look Harry shot her. “He doesn’t really talk to me. Why are you bringing this up right now anyway?”

Harry shrugged. “New baby. Feeling sentimental. Last night was really fun – I had pretty much everyone I care about in the one room. It’s crazy how many true friends I have made over the past few years. I just want my friends to get along too. You pair are the only ones left.”

“It’s fine Harry,” Hermione told him. “We’ll get there eventually. I’ll see you tomorrow?”

“Of course,” Harry said. “Bye Hermione.”

*

After that Draco Malfoy seemed to pop up everywhere. At the hospital visiting Harry, Ginny and baby James, at Grimmauld Place after they took the baby home. The lowkey New Years celebration at Ron’s, Pansy’s spring fashion launch even a few times in Flourish and Blotts. Hermione half wanted to blame Harry for it but she knew that in reality it wasn’t his doing. The wizarding world – wizarding London in particular – wasn’t exactly a big place and their friendship groups were so intertwined that it just made sense they’d be at the same events.

Hermione tried to make more of an effort – not for Harry’s sake, more for her own. If she could talk for hours with Pansy over brunch she could talk to Draco Malfoy without any issues.

It worked. By the summer Hermione was confident enough to say she was friends with Draco Malfoy. She even got a hand delivered invite to his twenty-fourth birthday. Once the boundaries had been broken down Hermione found herself spending more and more time with Draco. They had a lot in common – they always had but it had been hard to see past the intolerance in school. Hermione had been right in thinking Draco had spent time in muggle London – he’d been all over Britain and was happy to receive recommendations from Hermione about where he should go next and what muggle authors might interest him. Then there were the film nights – Hermione and Harry had started them just after the war had ended as a means of ensuring that even though they were now exceptionally busy they could at least spend one evening a week together. As the years had gone by the attendees had increased – Ginny was a staple and most others tended to drop in and out – but the nights themselves had grown sparser. Draco was apparently the key to reviving them – it gave Harry and Ginny a few hours break from the baby and Hermione learnt that Draco Malfoy was a Keanu Reeves fan.

*

December came almost too quickly. Harry and Ginny decided to rent out the cottage in Scotland again although instead of holding a Christmas party it was to celebrate James’ first birthday. It was dinosaur themed – James smashed his face into the Stegosaurus shaped cake when no-one was looking and also managed to hide his father’s glasses for a good twenty minutes.

It was emotional. Hermione couldn’t believe a year had passed already. Her godson was an absolute riot and Hermione had ended the year feeling this had been her best yet.

*

_December 2005_

“I’m pregnant,” Ginny blurted out.

Hermione choked on her wine. “No way!”

“I couldn’t keep it a secret from you any longer,” Ginny said. “But you need to keep it a secret! I’m still quite early along and we’re not planning on telling everyone just yet.”

They were in the kitchen of the Scottish cottage for the third year in a row. Things were a little different this year – Ron had spent some time abroad with Charlie and was only coming back to join them for the night and Daphne and Cho were staying home to look after their own new-born. There were less people than there had been the two previous years and although it was a little sad Hermione understood that this was just life. It was always going to happen.

“I’ve got some non-alcoholic cider I’m planning on drinking, but you just have to back me up and pretend like it’s alcohol.” Ginny continued.

“If you hadn’t have told me I wouldn’t have suspected you anyway,” Hermione said.

“You’re a notorious drink thief I needed to cover all my bases so that you didn’t question me in front of everyone,” Ginny shot back, and Hermione scowled.

They both fell quiet as the door to the kitchen opened and Draco walked in the room.

“When did you get here Draco?” Ginny asked.

“Just,” Draco responded. “Harry sent me for more mince pies.”

“They’re in the fridge,” Ginny told him.

Hermione and Ginny exchanged a look as Draco walked to the fridge, grabbed the mince pies and left again.

“Well that was awkward,” Ginny said.

Hermione rolled her eyes. She and Draco had fallen out over something petty and the whole thing itself had turned into a big situation that Hermione was quickly becoming tired with. Harry had made her promise to be on her best behaviour tonight – which she was of course going to be, she could be civil.

“Come on, we can’t stand in here all night. Harry would kill us both,” Ginny sighed, shooing Hermione into the next room.

As promised – Hermione was perfectly civil. She and Draco managed to avoid each other for the most part. It was like a competition – who was going to ignore each other for the longest? The first one to apologise loses. It wasn’t until the next morning after, yet another prosecco induced hangover that Hermione had decided she had reached her limit.

Ginny and Harry were still asleep. Draco was already clearing up the mess in the front room when Hermione woke up. She joined him for about five minutes before she dropped the bin bag she was holding. Draco looked over to her.

“This is silly now,” Hermione said. “I don’t even really remember what we were arguing over. I’m sorry.”

Hermione watched as Draco put down the bin bag he was holding. He nodded. “Ok.”

Hermione held back to urge to ask, “Is that all?” and waited. Sure enough, the apology came.

“I’m sorry too.” Draco said.

Hermione reached out her hand. “Friends?”

Draco rolled his eyes but shook her hand anyway. “Friends.”

*

_December 2006_

It was just the two of them this year. Ginny had paid for it as their Christmas treat.

2006 had been a year. Baby Albus had been born and Draco had been named one of his godparents much to the shock of Draco and the wizarding press. Hermione had seen it coming though – Harry had discussed it with her a dozen times before he’d actually reached out to Draco and asked him. Juggling being parents to two children, working, maintaining their relationship and their social life had meant Hermione and Draco had spent quite a bit of time alone over the past year. It had all culminated in September when for her birthday Draco had taken her to dinner and to the theatre. The atmosphere between them had been different for a while now. Hermione had spent some time convincing herself that this wasn’t a date, yet she had allowed Ginny to dictate her outfit – a fancy red dress and heels. After the theatre they’d went for a walk and one thing led to another leading them to end up kissing on her doorstep.

Everyone had seen it coming apparently. Harry and Ginny had placed bets. Hermione had felt a little embarrassed at first, but she had gotten over it eventually.

This year at the cottage felt different. “Use it to carve out your own traditions,” Ginny had said. “I don’t know how many Christmas party’s we’ll be able to host, probably not many until the kids are a little older at least.”

So that is what they had done – they’d decorated together in Christmas jumpers stitched by Molly Weasley, Hermione had baked Christmas goods and made a mess in the kitchen whilst Draco sung off pitch to every Christmas song on the radio.

“I think this might just be the best winter yet,” Hermione admitted as Christmas day came to a close.

They were curled up beside each other on the sofa. She was half asleep after a day of over overindulging. Draco pressed a kiss to the top of her head.

“Well, next year we’ll just have to make it even better.” He said.

“How are you planning to do that?” Hermione asked.

“You’ll see,” Draco said.


End file.
